Formal education not the only way we learn
OPINION: I read comments by Kirk Hope, the recently appointed Chief Executive of Business NZ, saying there is still a gap between educational achievement and workplace productivity in New Zealand. While we rank third in the developed world for tertiary education, we rank 28th in the world for productivity per person.
This is the big challenge we face, to link our learning more effectively to our earning. In Taranaki we can only afford to employ a handful of historians, but probably thousands of technicians and engineers. I recall speaking to a professor from Victoria University who just the day before was shocked to see one of his doctoral graduates burst into tears at her graduation. Asking what the matter was at such a time of celebration, he was confronted by the graduate’s desperation because she knew her doctoral thesis would never get her a job.
The Government’s approach has been to inform and make clearer to prospective tertiary students which degrees will earn them an income after their graduation. Google ‘‘Occupation outlook’’ and download the APP for New Zealand.
When we ran the Accelerator programme recently for senior secondary students about to choose their tertiary studies, Warwick Foy, General Manager from Taranaki Futures, ran a survey with the businesses hosting students in the programme. The question was asked ‘‘What do you want from your prospective employee?’’ The answers were the ability to communicate, great customer service, be part of a team, literacy and numeracy, have some IT skills, be able to plan and be organised, have initiative and a can-do attitude, be a problem solver, have good work habits and be independent, understand their health and safety responsibilities. None of the businesses actually mentioned qualifications. However it isn’t because they aren’t important, it’s just that in terms of productivity in the workplace, attitude is seen as the critical factor that makes a person an achiever.
I’m not knocking formal education, but at the same time let’s not limit education to only the formal places of learning. We need to learn 100 different ways if we are going to achieve the success we all want.
Everyone’s future depends on it.